Everything recreational cannabis, pot, or weed in Portland.

It’s hard to believe September is almost here; that back-to-school dread is in the air again, and the kids are feeling it! But not us 21+ year olds… While supermarkets and shopping centers gear up for Halloween and Thanksgiving, thousands of hopefuls are preparing for recreational marijuana in Portland. We still aren’t exactly sure which dispensaries are opening up for recreational sale, but Portland has plenty to choose from, and everyone has a favorite! Based on years of experience (sorry, mom), I can tell you which of mine I’m hoping to walk into in October.

Nectar is kind of like your “every man’s” dispensary. It’s well-known in Portland due to the fact that there are 4 locations spread across the quadrants. There’s often a large menu selection, and good bud at a nice varying price range. I have never heard any complaints of budtenders or customer service in general; with Nectar you know what you’re getting. They’re especially good at updating their Leafly (links to NE 122nd location). This dispensary would be perfect for those first-timers or people getting back into the game after years of prohibition.

Natural RxEmedies, located in SW Portland, has impeccable customer service. For first time customers, they always offer some sort of discount or treat. For the flower fans out there, they have a large selection specializing in nice quality to top-shelf bud. In terms of concentrates, what they lack in variety, they make up for in affordability and quality. Another good place for curious first-timers, but also seasoned veterans. Their Leafly can be found here, and is as helpful as they are!

In NE Portland, Uplift Botanicals is a premier little spot at 33rd and Killingsworth. Here is their Leafly, and as a fan of all things concentrate, I can say that their selection is one of the best out there. You can find grams of oil at all sorts of prices, ranging from fairly priced to top-shelf stuff. First-timers are more than welcome at Uplift (they have a great staff with awesome customer service) but the stock is catered to those top-shelf fans. For that reason, their deals on flower sometimes aren’t the best, but you know you’re getting high-quality bud.

AmeriCanna Rx is a 24/7 dispensary. It’s on NE Sandy Blvd, and has plenty of flower to choose from. There you can find bottom jar grams sometimes as low as $3. Crazy, right? Not to mention their hours being 24/7 and their Leafly menu being regularly updated – they’re the perfect late night stop. This is a popular pot destination in Portland, however, and sometimes you may have to wait a bit for budtending.

Marijuana Paradise right off Barbur Blvd in SW is an up-and-coming dispensary. With a nice selection of oil at reasonable prices, this place is a little oasis. What’s really worth writing home about, however? Their selection of edibles. For those of us who don’t have medical cards, we’ve been missing out on insane medibles all these years. It’s all about the milligrams, baby! Whether you’re a fan of drinkables or edibles, this place has it all at ranging prices and milligram measurements.

October, man. It’s so close we can almost taste it. It’s like waiting to feel like a kid in a candy shop, and the anticipation is driving us wild! Those dispensaries above are just some of the “many” (hundreds) in Portland to choose from, and while I may sit here hoping that they open for recreational sale, they may continue to just sell to medical patients. And that’s okay, because what we do know? Is that recreational pot is happening in Portland, and it’s happening in mere weeks.

July 1st: the big date this summer. Measure 91 kicks in and Oregon legalizes recreational marijuana.

But, for cannabis professionals, July 1st isn’t the only important date this season. From July 29-30th, the Portland Expo Center is hosting the Creative Cannabis Conference. More than 20 sponsors, 38 speakers, and 600 “business professionals” will be in one place. The conference will showcase new leading technology, discuss new legal regulation, and present new techniques for retail/marketing. As with all like-minded professionals in the same field, networking is key, and the conference has invited some of the biggest industry names. So who’s on the roster?

Cy Scott, co-founder of the favorite app and website: Leafly, worked his way to the top of this industry. Leafly’s site hosts 4mil hits monthly. Its reviews of local strains and dispensaries make it something of a bible, and Cy Scott something of a co-messiah, for marijuana users.

Noah Stokes, the founder/CEO of CannaGuard Security, will also be presenting. What is CannaGuard Security? Unbeknownst to most of us, it’s an essential aspect of buying marijuana. They supply Northwest dispensaries with a security system tailored to the cannabis industry’s needs. Stokes earned a reputation within the industry as invaluable for protecting marijuana-users and non-users alike.

David Rheins is the founder of the Marijuana Business Association. The MJBA for short, is a way for Rheins and others, like Morgan, President/Founder of MJBA’s women’s alliance, to give back to the industry. The MJBA “provides business intelligence,” is a key source of networking, and is an asset to cannabis professionalism.

If you’’re familiar vaporizers, you may have heard of Vuber. Jim Makoso, the “founding partner” of Vuber Technologies in Seattle, will also be speaking. Specializing in both dry herb and concentrates, Vuber’s vapes have lifetime warrantees. In an industry where everything can break in an instant (lookin’ at you, glass), that care to customer satisfaction makes Makoso and Vuber keynote players.

Adam Stites made legal edibles happen in Washington State with his company Mirth Provisions. Using ingredients from local farms, Mirth Provisions provides both drinkables and edibles to the medical and recreational users in Washington. Stites is just another one of the almost 40 industry leaders speaking.

The list continues, chock-full of knowledgeable, respectable cannabis professionals. With recreational weed just around the corner, this conference is a great bookend to July. A month of celebrating, ended with the Creative Cannabis Conference, and the branding and professionalism of marijuana. If you consider yourself a cannabis professional, you’ll find the $245.00 Early Bird registration fee worth it (ends June 30th), and get your cannabis-infused self over to the Portland Expo Center from July 29-30th!